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The former NBA player and sixth professional male athlete in U.S. team sports to come out sits down with Advocate editor Anne Stockwell in his first gay press interview, on stands February 27.
In his soon-to-be-released autobiography Man in the Middle, John Amaechi chronicles his life growing up in Manchester, England, overcoming odds to play in the NBA, and coping with the frustration and anguish of being a closeted professional athlete. He also plans to come out publicly on ESPN's Outside the Lines on February 11 to, as he puts it, make his position clear. "I am gay, black, British, smart, dumb, patronizing, stubborn, all these other things--flawed in many ways--and I am now asserting my activism," Amaechi tells Advocate editor Anne Stockwell in his first gay press interview.
Though his sexuality has been a topic of speculation for years, the press always seemed to maintain a blind eye, even when he acknowledged being gay to reporters. "People have these boxes that they want to throw you in," Amaechi tells Stockwell. "If you're big and black, it's not the first conclusion they jump to."
Read John Amaechi's entire interview in the March 13 issue of The Advocate, on stands February 27.
